Early childcare as arenas of inclusion: the contribution of staff to recognising parents with refugee backgrounds as significant stakeholders

Abstract

According to the Norwegian Kindergarten Act, educational staff should work in cooperation and understanding with the guardians of a child. In this article, it is argued that staff must ensure sufficient quality of interactions with all parents, provide them with satisfactory information, and facilitate parental participation, in order for children to have a safe educational environment. This study explores the ways in which early childcare staff could recognise parents with refugee backgrounds as significant stakeholders. The study has followed two early childcare institutions through several data collection methods. Eight staff members and the management has participated. Additionally, parents with refugee backgrounds have been interviewed. The analysis demonstrated that in order for staff to sufficiently recognise the parents with refugee backgrounds, the parents had to interact in the confines of the majority's discourse. Both institutions recognised the parents' backgrounds on an everyday basis; however, staff did not communicate their responsibility in this regard. Finally, parents generally appeared satisfied regarding their cooperation with staff; nevertheless, the staff had not sufficiently communicated the role and responsibility of early childcare to the parents.

On the way towards integration? From monologic to dialogic encounters in Swedish rural preschools

“…This is in line with the findings of earlier studies about school-family relationships in multicultural settings, which show that teachers must foster dialogue with parents in order to build relationships associated with equity, trust, and cooperation (Conus and Fahrni 2019;Nikoloudaki et al 2018;Tobin 2020). Earlier research also highlights the importance of cultural reflexivity as a means of integration (Lunneblad 2017), and of building trusting relationships between the newcomers and the preschools (Lamb 2020;Sønsthagen 2020). Our findings indicate that preschool practitioners must be supported such that they can critically reflect on their expectations of migrant families, and strive to gain a cultural reflexive stance toward their own practice (Van Laere and Vandenbroeck 2017).…”

“…Earlier research calls for dialogic approaches and culturally sensitive practices in early childhood education (Baghdasaryan, Lampa, and Osman 2021;De Gioia 2013;Lamb 2020;Sønsthagen 2020;Tobin 2020;Van Laere, Van Houtte, and Vandenbroeck 2018). The results of this study confirm that self-reflexivity is a precondition for adopting a dialogic stance, while dialogic encounters with the newcomers at the same time facilitate culturally responsive practices.…”

“…Earlier research into how cultural differences in beliefs and opinions concerning childcare and preschool practice are tackled in urban multicultural preschools found that these differences are rarely identified or discussed (De Gioia 2013;Garvis 2020;Tobin 2020;Van Laere, Van Houtte, and Vandenbroeck 2018). Research also shows that practitioners' expectations of migrant parents tend to be guided by values and norms that they hold for parents with majority background (Lunneblad 2013(Lunneblad , 2017Sønsthagen 2020). Earlier research has also shown that paying inadequate attention to cultural differences causes practitioners to tend to view migrant parents who fail to act according to the cultural norms of the majority as deficient.…”

“…Earlier research has also shown that paying inadequate attention to cultural differences causes practitioners to tend to view migrant parents who fail to act according to the cultural norms of the majority as deficient. The practitioners try to 'foster' the migrant parents to become preschool parents typical of the host society (Lunneblad 2013(Lunneblad , 2017Sønsthagen 2020). In Sweden, studies also indicate that preschool practitioners are uncertain about confronting value differences and handling diversity, which might be rooted in the desire to avoid conflicts (Anderstaf, Lecusay, and Nilsson 2021).…”

“…Research that addresses questions related to the integration of migrant families in preschools demonstrates a range of challenges in finding a common ground between migrant families and preschool practitioners (De Gioia 2013;Lamb 2020;Lunneblad 2017;Sønsthagen 2020;Tobin 2020;Van Laere, Van Houtte, and Vandenbroeck 2018). Previous research reports on a lack of dialogue and mutual understanding between migrant parents and preschool practitioners (De Gioia 2013;Tobin 2020;Van Laere, Van Houtte, and Vandenbroeck 2018), and shows that preschool practitioners often pay inadequate attention to cultural differences (Sønsthagen 2020;Tobin 2020). Nevertheless, as early childhood education in many Western societies represents the context in which migrant families with children meet the majority society for the first time, preschools remain an important integration arena (Lunneblad 2017;Tobin 2020;Vandekerckhove and Aarssen 2019).…”